Meeting with the Home Secretary

28th February 2018

I attended the Norfolk and Suffolk MP Colleagues meeting yesterday – where I spent some time talking to the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP, about a number of important issues for those living in my constituency. It was great that she took the time to join us.

As I have been very vocal about the in the press, I believe that all of us in public service owe it to the people we serve to ensure that we put frontline services ahead of (often unnecessary) back-office admin and duplication – and that we must also put the needs of service users ahead of the convenience of traditional ways of managing public services. Along with my fellow Conservative MPs in Norfolk, I have been encouraging the Police and Crime Commissioner to explore in detail whether it makes financial sense for responsibility of the Fire Service to be transferred from Norfolk County Council to him. While such an idea would keep Norfolk Police and Norfolk Fire services separate, it may enable money to be saved which can then be reinvested into our frontline services – and I felt that it was important to discuss this concept in further detail with the Home Secretary.

Also high on my agenda was the need to ensure that our Police and Emergency Services are sufficiently protected by the law when individuals look to use violence against them, and I know that this is an area that will be debated extensively in Parliament over the next couple of months.

Finally, I flagged with the Home Secretary an awful case recently brought to my attention by a local farmer – in which criminals stole pigs and barbarically set fire to pig tents (knowing full well that the pigs could not escape). It’s imperative that our police are able to tackle such instances of rural crime, and that those responsible face the full justice of the law.